online medical dictionary | definition of bastard

1. Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See Bastard, note.

2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so. "That bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices." (Barrow)

3. Of an unusual make or proportion; as, a bastard musket; a bastard culverin.

4. Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book.

<medicine> Bastard ashlar, three to five quill feathers on a small joint corresponding to the thumb in some mam malia; the alula.

(01 Mar 1998)